Todd Fitch Appointed To East Carolina Football Staff
February 19, 2007 | Football
Feb. 19, 2007
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Todd Fitch has been named quarterbacks coach and an offensive coordinator at East Carolina University according to an announcement from head football coach Skip Holtz Monday.
Fitch's new assignment at East Carolina will mark a reunion with Holtz as the pair worked together for a total of 10 seasons, five each at Connecticut and South Carolina beginning in 1994. A veteran with over 20 years of coaching experience, Fitch has also worked under legendary head coaches Don Nehlen, Earle Bruce and Lou Holtz during his career which spans back to 1986 and included stops at alma mater Ohio Wesleyan, Bowling Green, West Virginia and Colorado State.
"Undoubtedly, Todd brings a wealth of experience to East Carolina and we're excited to have him join our Pirate family," Holtz said. "There's certainly a comfort level there when you've spent 10 years working with someone. He's made a significant impact everywhere he has been, and I've been fortunate enough to see it in person twice."
Fitch indirectly replaces former tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Don Yanowsky on the Pirates' staff, who accepted a position with Boston College January 5. Fitch's assignment to handle quarterback play and assist in the coordination of ECU's offensive unit has enabled Holtz to slightly shuffle his staff for the 2007 season which includes Phil Petty taking over responsibility for the tight end position.
"In replacing Coach Yanowsky's position, we were able to make some moves that will strengthen not only our program as a whole, but help continue the progress we've made towards the development and growth for our staff," Holtz said. "I'll be the first to credit Phil Petty for doing an outstanding job working with James Pinkney over the past two seasons. The stats simply speak for themselves as does James' maturation and development on and off the field. Thus, our program will benefit greatly by Phil having the same impact with our young tight ends, which as we discovered late in the year, is a position critical to our success, especially in the redzone. I feel this opportunity for him is a win-win situation for all of us as our tight ends will be in the hands of energetic leadership and Phil will be in a strategic position to continue his climb toward being one of the nation's young, bright and well-rounded offensive coordinators of tomorrow."
Most recently, Fitch spent three seasons as a member of the Iowa State staff as quarterbacks coach where he tutored All-America performer Bret Meyer, who has blossomed into ISU's most prolific signal-caller under his guidance. Meyer set school career marks in passing yards (7,348), total offense (7,929), touchdown passes (41) and completions (587) in just three seasons and included a 1,926-yard passing effort in 2004 which ranked as the top freshman mark in school history.
Prior to his move to the Big 12 Conference, Fitch was South Carolina's quarterbacks coach in 2003 after a year as running backs coach and three seasons as wide receivers coach - all under head coach Lou Holtz and offensive coordinator Skip Holtz - where he helped lead the Gamecocks to consecutive Outback Bowl victories in 2001 and 2002.
Fitch came to the South Carolina program from Connecticut, where he worked under head coach Skip Holtz during his five-year tenure from 1994 to 1998. He coordinated the Huskies' offense in his final three years, playing a key role in UConn's high-powered and prolific offensive attack in 1998 that resulted in a school-record 10-win season and quarterfinal round appearance in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. Connecticut quarterbacks set school records for passing yardage, touchdown passes and passing efficiency under Fitch's guidance and the Huskies enjoyed a spot in the Top 25 polls during four of the five seasons.
Fitch, an Ohio native, is a 1986 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, where he was a three-year starter at defensive back and an all-league performer in 1985. Following his playing career, Fitch moved on to an assistant coaching position at Ohio Wesleyan from 1986-87 before accepting a graduate assistant position at Bowling Green for one year in 1988 and a volunteer coaching position at West Virginia in 1989. He returned to BGSU to serve as the Falcons' wide receivers coach during the 1990 and 1991 seasons where two of his wide receivers were drafted in the NFL.
He moved on to Colorado State in 1992 where he worked as the running backs coach and special teams coordinator for two seasons where his starting fullback played in the NFL and his starting tailback was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game.
Fitch, 43, and wife Julie have two children (Curtis, Peyton).
Holtz indicated that special teams assignments would be broken up in different areas of responsibility and announced at a later date.
